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The Right Time to Change Jobs

by Rick C. Hornberger

Today's job market is rich with opportunity. Reminders abound. A friend
accepts an exciting new position. Neighbors move for that once-in-a-lifetime
promotion. Hot executives dominate the news. It's enough to make you wonder,
is it time to change jobs?

That's not an easy question to answer. A new job, after all, might bring
you higher pay, more authority, greater responsibility, a better chance for
advancement -- even a better working environment. On the other hand, making
a move for the wrong reason can send you down a treacherous path, away from
your ultimate goal.

Consider the tales of two former clients. Their names are changed but
their stories are true.

Jim Peters dreamed of becoming sales manager for a national construction
firm. Having spent five years as a salesman for a Georgia-based construction
firm, he believes it's time to move on, feeling underpaid and seeing no room
for advancement. After quietly talking to a few local firms who are hiring
sales people with his level of experience, he accepts a higher-paying job
with an architectural firm.

Four years later, Jim is ready to move again. While he enjoys his boss,
the work is more difficult than his former job, and chances for advancement
are non-existent. What's worse, the 10% raise Jim engineered by job hopping
was also paid to his successor at his former construction sales job.

Given his disenchantment with architectural sales, Jim opts to return to
construction sales. Learning that Washington, DC is one of the hottest
building markets, Jim starts to hunt there. But no firms are willing to
increase his salary because his experience in architectural sales commands
no premium. On firm offers a job with no salary increase, and Jim accepts,
rationalizing there will be opportunity for advancement later.

Jim relocates to Washington. But disappointment surfaces a few years
later when his hoped-for promotion fails to materialize. Jim eventually
purchases a fast-food franchise with his brother-in-law.

Bill Doyle, a civil engineering student with top academic honors, hopes
to head a design team for one of the top national engineering firms,
designing luxury hotels. But no civil engineering firms recruit at his
college, and his resumes generate no interview requests from his target
employers. He settles instead for an offer from a local power utility upon
graduation.

Three years later, Bill hears of the exceptional salaries civil engineers
are earning in the Texas oil fields. This time, a resume mailing yields an
offer and 25% salary increase with a major oil firm. Bill bites. Five years
later, the oil slump hits, and Bill is laid off. After six months of
searching, he finds a job designing pulp and paper plants for a 20% pay cut.
Eventually, Bill finds his way back into hotel design - - but as an
individual designer, not a manager, for a national chain of rather boring
hotels.

Both Jim and Bill made a fundamental and unfortunately common mistake.
They were willing to change jobs for apparently better offers, but their
moves never advanced them towards their ultimate career goals. The end
result was a lot of movement that didn't lead to a desired destination.

Don't let the same thing happen to your career goals. With basic career
planning, you can find the right jobs and know when to accept the right
offer.

The following career planning method uses straight-forward common sense.
Don't be fooled by the simplicity. The difficulty comes in execution. You'll
need discipline, self-evaluation and commitment.

A Two-Step, Sure-Fire Plan

My advice boils down to two points: adopt a career goal and then develop
plans to execute it. These two steps allow you -- not fate -- to control
your advancement.

Your career goal should be a specific position in a specific industry.
For example, you might wish to be an executive editor of a technical
publications company, or the chief engineer of a major auto parts
manufacturer.

Your job plan will have two elements. Your long-term plan will be a list
of all the jobs you must hold to reach your career goal. This plan should
include not only job titles, but all the skills and experience you'll need
for each post. Your short-term job plan will list the skills and experience
you'll need to move up the next rung of your ladder.

For most of us, there is no shortcut. Only with a goal can you know when
you've arrived. Only with a plan can you be confident that you'll arrive on
schedule, or at all.

To choose a fitting goal, candidly assess your experience, skills,
interests, strengths, weaknesses, enthusiasms and aversions. If you find
self-assessment difficult, have a close friend help you, or consult a career
counselor. Once you have a clear picture of how you best operate, you can
select a career goal that conforms to your character.

Questions, Questions

Try to get a feel for the day-to-day reality of the post to which you
aspire. Research is paramount here. Spend time at the library. Read relevant
books and magazines. Talk to executive recruiters. They know what it takes
to flourish in a given role. As you begin to clarify your goal, interview
people who have achieved it. Find out if you really want their
responsibilities and hard work. (Either way, it's best to know beforehand.)

To begin establishing your job plan, ask your role models how they rose
to their present positions. Chart their career histories and consider the
composite result a very rough road map.

You can't follow their advice verbatim, because the career landscape is
always shifting slightly. For example, foreign languages may become
important as your business or industry becomes more international. You may
need expertise in a process or technology that didn't exist when your
mentors were at your stage.

Therefore, be sure to ask your interviewees two additional questions:
What qualifications will his successor be expected to have and what
knowledge did he lack - but wish he had - when he began this job?

As you begin to see the path to your goal, interview people who hold the
jobs along your way. The better you understand what lies ahead, the better
you can meet the challenge.

When you're ready to get on your plan, timing becomes paramount. You
should seek each new job as soon as you're prepared to succeed in it. Moving
before you have the skills and confidence can be disastrous to your career
and your company. Besides, there's no need to move too soon or too high just
because an outstanding opportunity comes prematurely. There are always
opportunities for outstanding talent.

Likewise, there's no career benefit in staying on your present job once
you've prepared for another one. Loyalty and stagnation are two different
things. As soon as you're ready for more responsibility, seek it.

As you advance, keep abreast of changes in your industry. Changing
regulations, technology and business conditions have the potential to alter
both your path and destination. Remain flexible and periodically review your
plans and goals.

Keep A High Profile

Your reputation within an industry is highly influential in gaining
interviews and securing new positions. Never assume that doing good work is
enough. It's simply a good start. The best way to develop your reputation
(and keep up with the job market) is to become active in a trade
association. Serve on a committee in the area of your interest, write
articles for your group's journal and agree to speak when invited. These
initiatives advertise your commitment to your field.

Cultivate a network of successful people within your industry. Make it
clear that you respect their attainment and want to emulate them. Most
people will be flattered and happy to help. This network will provide an
early warning of the best openings, which are rarely advertised.

If you have the choice, it's better to remain employed and learn about
openings through your network than to quit your job and sleuth full-time.
Your attractiveness as a successful employee is worth far more than extra
hours to shop.

To review, effective career management requires a goal, a plan and good
timing. Choose a goal that is worthwhile yet attainable. Develop a plan
based on thorough, up-to-date industry knowledge. Seek your next job as soon
as you have the skill and confidence to advance.

Do these things consistently and well. You will realize your true career
potential.

"The Right Time to Change Jobs" is the third in a series of eight
articles published by Hornberger
Management Company